I see Turkey's future as being in Europe, as one of many prosperous, tolerant, democratic countries.

The snow reminded me of the beauty and mystery of creation, of the essential joy that is life.

What is the thing you want most from me? What can I do to make you love me?' Be yourself,' said Ipek.

When two people love each other as we do, no one can come between them, no one," I said, amazed at the words I was uttering without preparation. "Lovers like us, because they know that nothing can destroy their love, even on the worst days, even when they are heedlessly hurting each other in the cruelest , most deceitful ways, still carry in their hearts a consolation that never abandons them." (p.191)

It was in Cihangir that i first learned Istanbul was not an anonymous multitude of walled-in lives - a jungle of apartments where no one knew who was dead or who was celebrating what - but an archipelago of neighbourhoods in which everyone knew each other.

Now everyone is prouder and poorer

People only tell lies when there is something they are terribly frightened of losing.